Granted Patent B2

US 12,747,922 · App. 18/195,532 · Granted Sep 29, 2026

Inventors: Kyle William Broadway (Mount Airy, MD); Michael Canty (Bethesda, MD)

Assignee: Armaments Research Company, Inc.

F41A17/063F41A17/06F41A19/01F41A19/10F41A21/48F41A31/00F41C23/16F41C27/04F41G3/04F41G3/142F41G3/165G01S19/54H04N5/28H04N23/66G01S19/13

Abstract

Claims (70)

1 . A method for determining a performance metric based on a discharge event of a firearm, the method comprising:

receiving, by a first event detection module associated with a first firearm of a first user, a plurality of first input signals over a sample window of time from a first inertial measurement unit (IMU) configured on the first firearm;

identifying, by the first event detection module, an occurrence of a first shot discharge of the first firearm at a first time based on the plurality of first input signals, identifying, by the first event detection module, an occurrence of a second shot discharge of the first firearm at a second time based on the plurality of first input signals; and

determining a first split time for the first user based on a difference between the first and second times;

determining a performance metric, including the first split time, based on the identifying;

communicating the performance metric to a user of the firearm in real-time, the communicating including displaying the performance metric on a user display comprising one of an augmented reality (AR), a virtual reality (VR) device and an integrated visual augmentation system (IVAS);

receiving, by a second event detection module associated with a second firearm of a second user, a plurality of second input signals over a sample window of time from a second IMU configured on the second firearm;

identifying, by the second event detection module, an occurrence of a first shot discharge of the second firearm at a first time based on the plurality of second input signals;

identifying, by the second event detection module, an occurrence of a second shot discharge of the second firearm at a second time based on the plurality of second input signals;

determining a second split time for the second user based on a difference between the first and second times;

comparing the first split time of the first user to the second split time of the second user;

ranking a performance of the first user relative to the second user based on the comparing; and

displaying the ranking on the user display.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the user display is incorporated on a headset.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a signal indicative of a shot accuracy metric, wherein the performance metric comprises the shot accuracy metric.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the performance metric comprises a stability index, the method further comprising:

determining a first orientation of the first firearm at a shot time;

determining a second orientation of the first firearm at a first time before the shot time;

comparing the first and second orientations; and

assigning a first stability index based on the first and second orientations.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

determining a third orientation of the first firearm at a second time after the shot time;

comparing the first and third orientations; and

assigning a second stability index based on the first and third orientations.

6 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving, by a second event detection module associated with a second firearm of a second user, a plurality of second input signals over a sample window of time from a second IMU configured on the second firearm;

identifying, by the second event detection module, an occurrence of a first shot discharge of the second firearm at a shot time based on the plurality of second input signals;

determining a first orientation of the second firearm at the shot time;

determining a second orientation of the second firearm at a first time before the shot time;

comparing the first and second orientations; and

assigning a third stability index to the second user based on the first and second orientations of the second firearm.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

ranking a performance of the first user relative to the second user based on the first and third stability indexes; and

wherein the displaying includes providing visual feedback to the first user of at least one of the first and second stability indexes.

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein the displaying comprises:

displaying the first and second stability indexes on an augmented reality headset.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

combining the first and third stability indexes to a first group and assigning a first aggregate stability index score.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining a fourth stability index for a third user;

determining a fifth stability index for a fourth user;

combining the fourth and fifth stability indexes to a second group and assigning a second aggregate stability index score;

comparing the first aggregate stability index score with the second aggregate stability index score; and

determining a ranking based on the first and second aggregate stability index scores, wherein the displaying comprises displaying the ranking.

11 . The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the plurality of first input signals comprises:

receiving a first acceleration input signal along a first axis, a second acceleration signal along a second axis and a third acceleration input signal along a third axis; and

receiving a first rotation input signal around the first axis, a second rotation input signal around the second axis and a third acceleration input signal around the third axis.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first input signals include acceleration and rotation input signals and wherein identifying the occurrence of the first shot further comprises:

assigning respective acceleration and rotation input signals to sample event candidates at respective windows of time;

comparing the acceleration signals of the sampled event candidates to a discharge acceleration template that represents a confirmed weapon discharge event;

identifying a subset of accepted accelerations from the sampled event candidates that satisfy the discharge acceleration template;

comparing a first rotation input signal from the sample window of time associated with each accepted acceleration in the subset to a first rotation template that represents a confirmed weapon discharge event; and

determining whether the sampled event candidate is a discharge event based on satisfying both the discharge acceleration template and the first rotation template.

13 . A system for determining a performance metric based on a discharge event of a firearm, the system comprising:

a first event detection module associated with a first firearm of a first user, and that is configured to (i) receive a plurality of first input signals over a sample window of time from a first inertial measurement unit (IMU) configured on the first firearm, (ii) identify an occurrence of a first shot discharge of the first firearm at a first time based on the plurality of first input signals, (iii) identify an occurrence of a second shot discharge of the first firearm at a second time based on the plurality of first input signals, and (iv) determine a first split time for the first user based on a difference between the first and second times;

a second event detection module associated with a second firearm of a second user, and that is configured to (i) receive a plurality of second input signals over a sample window of time from a second IMU configured on the second firearm, (ii) identify an occurrence of a first shot discharge of the second firearm at a first time based on the plurality of second input signals, (iii) identify an occurrence of a second shot discharge of the second firearm at a second time based on the plurality of second input signals, (iv) determine a second split time for the second user based on a difference between the first and second times;

a server device that executes an application that:

compares the first split time of the first user to the second split time of the second user; and

ranks a performance of the first user relative to the second user based on the comparing; and

a display comprising one of an augmented reality (AR), a virtual reality (VR) device and an integrated visual augmentation system (IVAS) and that communicates the ranked performance.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the first event detection module is further configured to:

determine a first orientation of the first firearm at a shot time;

determine a second orientation of the first firearm at a first time before the shot time;

compare the first and second orientations;

assign a first stability index based on the first and second orientations;

determine a third orientation of the first firearm at a second time after the shot time;

compare the first and third orientations; and

assign a second stability index based on the first and third orientations;

wherein the display communicates the first and second stability index.

Continuity (13)

References Cited (186)